When an app is right for your company, and when it isn't

"We should have an app." For many companies it is the wrong investment, and anyone who sells you an app without first asking what it's meant to solve is doing you no favour. But sometimes an app is exactly right, and then it saves working hours no website comes close to. Here is the question that decides which applies to you, and why a well-defined app costs less today than its reputation suggests.

Start with the question

An app has to earn its place on the customer's home screen. People download fewer apps than ever, and an app that gets opened once and forgotten is money down the drain, plus a maintenance burden you carry forward.

So the first question isn't "do we want an app?" but: will the same person use this over and over again? If the answer is no, if the customer visits you once a year or just wants to find your opening hours and call, then a fast, mobile-friendly website goes further than any app. It requires no download, is found via Google and works for everyone right away.

When an app is right

There are situations where an app beats everything else. If you recognize your company in any of these, it's worth a closer look:

• Recurring users. Customers or employees who log in week after week: bookings, memberships, ongoing cases.
• Logged-in content. A customer portal where each person sees their own quotes, documents or status.
• Notifications. You need to reach the user directly: "your appointment is confirmed", "new schedule is out".
• Offline, camera or GPS. Fieldwork without coverage, photo documentation on site, positioning. This is the app's home turf.
• Internal tools. Often the most profitable app is the one the customer never sees: a tool that replaces paper notes and double entry and saves the team hours every week.

What the five have in common: the same person comes back, or the phone has to do something the web can't. If you only want to be seen, the website is better.

I have built two myself. Birdy became a real app because it has to recognize a bird from a photo or a call out in the forest, with no coverage and no account. LoopLead became a web app because the managers who use it sit at a desk with check-ins, meetings and actions, and none of that needs the phone's sensors. The same question both times: what should the phone do that the web can't?

The web app: the middle option many miss

Between a website and a real app there's a third option: the web app. It looks and feels like an app, can be added to the home screen and works offline. But it lives on the web. That means:

• No App Store barrier. No downloads, no review processes, no store fees.
• Cheaper to build and maintain. One codebase, one place to update.
• Instant access. The customer clicks a link and is in.

For booking systems, customer portals and most internal tools, the web app is often the smartest choice. A real app only becomes justified when you truly need notifications, offline mode or the phone's hardware in full.

Cheaper than you think

Many dismiss the idea of an app because they've heard price tags of tens of thousands of euros. That picture is outdated. Modern technology has changed the maths considerably:

• One codebase for both iOS and Android. You build once, not twice.
• AI in development means a single developer today builds things that required a team a few years ago.
• Ready-made building blocks for login, payment and notifications, things that used to be weeks of work.

That doesn't mean apps are free. But it means that a well-defined app (a customer portal, a booking flow, an internal tool) is within reach today even for smaller companies.

Start with the need, not the technology

My advice is always the same: describe the problem, not the solution. "Customers call asking about their order status ten times a day" is a better starting point than "we want an app". Sometimes it lands on an app, sometimes on a web app, sometimes on an assistant that answers the recurring questions, and the right answer is the one that solves the problem at the lowest cost.

Do you have a problem like that? Describe it for me and I'll tell you if an app is the right path, and just as clearly if it isn't.